Glass appliqué with theatrical mask

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent deep turquoise green, appearing black; vessel wall colorless. Thick oval appliqué attached to wall of vessel; on inside of wall, bulb. Grotesque female mask with straight-haired peruke, parted at middle and with an outturned fringe at sides of face; deep eye holes and large curved mouth cavity. Complete but with chipped and weathered edges, and most of nose missing; pitting, dulling, and iridescent weathering on all surfaces. The appliqué was probably attached to a large glass jug or bottle as decoration below the handle.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art